Lanka flays India’s comments on army’s
bombingColombo, July 8Sri Lanka has hit out at India for making “unrealistic and unacceptable comments” over the military’s aerial bombing of suspected Tamil Tiger rebel bases. Furious over India’s expression of concern over the bombings, Colombo said New Delhi had ignored Sri Lanka’s position that the assault was a pre-emptive move to forestall a Tigers’ attempt to over-run a key northern town of Jaffna.
A foreign ministry statement also referred to the U.S. criticism, but
refrained from naming the two countries.

Pak backing insurgents in Kashmir: USAWashington, July 8
The United States of America today charged Pakistan with collaborating with the Taliban regime of Afghanistan in supporting insurgency operation in Kashmir and said differences on the issue would continue to dog relations between Washington and Islamabad for a long time.

Actress Patricia Heaton, star of the television comedy series “Everybody Loves Raymond” arrives for the premiere of the new Discovery Channel documentary film “When Dinosaurs Roamed America” in Los Angeles, on Saturday. The film unveils two new dinosaur species that have been discovered.
— Reuters

India ‘not keen’ on destroying
PakWashington, July 8
India’s nuclear tests, minimum nuclear deterrent, modernisation of the armed forces and a boost to the economic growth are part of a “subtle, multi-faceted” grand strategy to prevent Pakistan from expanding into Kashmir, befriend China and prevent it from turning hostile, a senior analyst with a US think-tank has said.

Kathmandu, July 8Nepal’s Parliament passed the government’s policy programme today after a walkout by the Opposition, which is pushing for Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to resign. Mr
Koirala would have been forced to leave office had the platform
not received parliamentary approval by today.

Work on Indo-Iran gas pipeline
completedIslamabad, July 8
Pakistan has completed preparatory work on the proposed Indo-Iran gas pipeline project and it is up to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to decide whether the issue would figure during his India visit, the Petroleum Minister said.

Another Palestinian child
killedJerusalem, July 8Another Palestinian child was added to the Middle East death tally, while the Palestinians warned of potential catastrophe if Israel does not act urgently to help bring an international peace plan to fruition.

Israel keen on buying Lakshya aircraftJerusalem, July 8
Israel is keen on buying pilotless target aircraft Lakshya from India and negotiations are on in this connection, defence sources have said. “While we intend to sell one weapon to India, we want to buy another from them.

A dog shakes off water after a swim in a flooded quarry near the Czech village of Kosova Hora at the end of the first week of the summer vacation
on Sunday. Temperatures rose to 30 degrees centigrade over the weekend.
— Reuters

Mystery of Fiji coup
plottersSuva, July 8When a preliminary inquiry into treason charges against coup leader George Speight and his accomplices starts here tomorrow, many in Fiji will be asking if they have the right man.

Luring Americanised
Bengalis with pizzaLowell (Massachusetts), July 8Much to the disappointment of her parents, seven-year-old Priyanka Deb is bypassing traditional Bengali fare, like samosas and chick peas. She’d rather eat pizza.

7 die in B’desh
gunbattleDhaka, July 8
At least seven people were killed and more than 100 others injured during a gunbattle between rival groups at Munshiganj, 30 km south of the capital Dhaka, Bangladesh police said on Sunday. Police said supporters of two local council leaders had clashed on Saturday.

Colombo, July 8
Sri Lanka has hit out at India for making “unrealistic and unacceptable comments” over the military’s aerial bombing of suspected Tamil Tiger rebel bases. Furious over India’s expression of concern over the bombings, Colombo said New Delhi had ignored Sri Lanka’s position that the assault was a pre-emptive move to forestall a Tigers’ attempt to over-run a key northern town of Jaffna.

A foreign ministry statement also referred to the U.S. criticism, but refrained from naming the two countries. It simply called them “two foreign governments”, but the reference was unmistakable.

“What one government said is unacceptable. While expressing ‘great disappointment at these developments,’ it has made no reference to our government’s assertion that the bombings were a pre-emptive strike in self-defence,” the statement said, referring to India.

Western diplomats said the attacks prompted the unusual reaction from New Delhi and Washington because Colombo had reneged on an informal understanding since April not to resort to aerial attacks while the Norwegian effort to broker peace was under way.

“There was an understanding that the (Sri Lankan) air force would not carry out any bombings and in return, the LTTE would not hit targets in Colombo,” a diplomatic source said.

The air force used MiG 27 and Kfir jets to end a two-month lull by attacking Pooneryn, south of Jaffna peninsula, last weekend. The military claimed it hit 19 rebel targets, including ammunition and fuel dumps.

Colombo also took umbrage to New Delhi call for negotiations as the only way to solve the conflict. “That government’s proposition that ‘there is no alternative to peace’ is self-evident. The question is whether the Sri Lanka government should seek peace at any cost.”

The bombings were the first major offensive since Oslo’s peace bid headed by special envoy Erik Solheim appeared to be stalled over the Tigers’ pre-negotiation demands.

A new four-member Norwegian team, named last week after Solheim’s demotion as principal facilitator, has yet to put the peace initiative back on track. The U.S. administration also deplored the attacks but Colombo looked more favourably on Washington’s additional comments that it “respects the right of any nation to defend its territorial integrity. “That approach is principled and realistic,” noted the Foreign Ministry statement.

Newspaper reports said the Indian and U.S. censure had pushed the military to suspend more attacks in the northern peninsula.
IANS

Colombo, July 8
The Opposition, which is enjoying a clear majority in Parliament, has decided to request Speaker Anura Bandaranaike to take up the no-confidence motion against the Kumaratunga government for debate in the third week of this month instead of next month as proposed by the ruling party.

The 115 MPs of the Opposition met in Parliament yesterday and placed their signatures on a letter requesting the Speaker to take up the debate on the no-confidence motion on July 18, 19 and 20. The joint Opposition will make the request on the grounds that it now enjoys the majority in Parliament. The government was reduced to a minority on June 20 after one of the key allies — the SLMC — withdrew support to the People’s Alliance coalition after its leader and minister Rauf Hakeem was sacked by the President, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga.

It was with the support of the SLMC that Ms Kumaratunga had formed the government after the parliamentary elections in October last.
UNI

Washington, July 8
The United States of America today charged Pakistan with collaborating with the Taliban regime of Afghanistan in supporting insurgency operation in Kashmir and said differences on the issue would continue to dog relations between Washington and Islamabad for a long time.

The outgoing US Ambassador to Pakistan William B Milam, in an interview to the Washington Post, said Pakistan had collaboration with the Taliban in its support of Islamic insurgents in Kashmir. Close ties also exist between the Afghan regime and the conservative Islamic groups in Pakistan, he said.

Mr Milam, who is relinquishing office at the end of his tenure, said he had reiterated American concerns about Osama bin Laden in final courtesy calls on Pakistani officials and Taliban diplomats stationed in Islamabad.

“It was clear we still have a long way to go before coming to a meeting on this issue”, he added.

Earlier, according to the American daily, Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar told the US officials during his recent visit to Washington that Islamabad had little control over the Taliban but needed to maintain cordial relations with the group because of Afghanistan’s strategic location and long-standing friendship.
UNI

Washington, July 8
India’s nuclear tests, minimum nuclear deterrent, modernisation of the armed forces and a boost to the economic growth are part of a “subtle, multi-faceted” grand strategy to prevent Pakistan from expanding into Kashmir, befriend China and prevent it from turning hostile, a senior analyst with a US think-tank has said.

“While India simply has no interest in pursuing any military solutions aimed at destroying, occupying or fractionating Pakistan, the latter is an anti-status quo power in Kashmir,” says Mr Ashley J. Tellis, senior analyst of the US strategic think-tank, Rand Corporation, in a paper on the “Changing Political-Military Environment”.

“Transforming what Pakistan views as an ‘ugly stability’ will require an acceptance that status quo in Kashmir is unlikely to change no matter what means are brought into play,” Mr Tellis says.

Chinese policies have a dual aspect: to checkmate India by giving Pakistan nuclear knowhow and military aid and keeping New Delhi fixated on Pakistan while not embracing Pakistan’s ambitions against India and recognising that both India and China have a common interest in frustrating the goals of terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism.

Pakistan wants to improve relations with the USA and get China to help it against India but even if China rebuffs it in the attainment of these goals, if it has to choose between the USA and China, it will opt for the latter, he says.

Pakistan’s general objective is to raise India’s costs of maintaining the status quo in Kashmir so that New Delhi negotiates an outcome more favourable to Pakistan, or to wear down India to prevent it from applying its full political resources externally against Pakistan.

Pakistan wants from China a public support for its objectives on key political issues. These include confronting Indian hegemony in South Asia, “recovering” Jammu and Kashmir and pacifying Afghanistan by complete Taliban control, Mr Tellis says.

“Thus far, China has refused to provide either support or endorsement on any of these points.

Chinese behaviour towards Pakistan and the smaller South Asian states suggests that Beijing has already recognised the Indian hegemony within South Asia, and while it has attempted to assist India’s smaller neighbours in preserving their security, it has shown no interest in leading any anti-Indian coalition of the sort Islamabad would prefer, says the study.

Beijing has publicly advocated — much to Islamabad’s chagrin — that the resolution of the Kashmir conflict be deferred indefinitely, and it has continued to support international efforts at penalising the Taliban’s brand of Islamist rule in Afghanistan.

“Even as China has distanced itself from Pakistani interests in these areas, it has been careful to do so quietly and indirectly. This sensitivity to Pakistani sentiments has always been appreciated by Islamabad, who often contrast the ‘respect’ accorded them by the Chinese-even when they disagree-with the hectoring-attitude adopted by the USA.”

Pakistan, says Tellis, is likely to remain loyal to China over the long term. The prospect of a rising China pleases Pakistan because it presages the availability of an even more powerful ally than Beijing currently represents.

Given all the potential benefits that would accrue from such a possibility, Pakistan is unlikely to support any attempts at constraining China irrespective of where they may emerge.

If any US-led efforts materialise in this regard, they would certainly place Pakistan in a difficult position because Islamabad still seeks as best it can to retain USA’s friendship, support and assistance even as it maintains its critical strategic links with China. Therefore, Pakistan will not support any hedging strategies directed against Beijing.

Unlike India, which may be sympathetic to such efforts even if it does not formally participate in them, Pakistan will simply be opposed to all such solutions.

“Islamabad would seek to play the role of peacemaker. If despite its best preferences Pakistan is faced to take sides, Islamabad would settle for remaining loyal to Beijing.”
PTI

Kathmandu,
July 8
Nepal said today it was ready for peace talks with the Maoist rebels
to end an anti-government insurgency, a day after 39 policemen were
shot dead by the guerrillas. “The government is always ready for
talks to end the violence but the other side (the rebel group) is not
serious for the meeting,” Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel
said. Reuters

Islamabad, July 8
Pakistan has completed preparatory work on the proposed Indo-Iran gas pipeline project and it is up to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to decide whether the issue would figure during his India visit, the Petroleum Minister said.

“The agenda (to be discussed during the July 14-16 visit) is not final as yet and it is up to President General Musharraf to decide. We have done our preparatory work so that we are ready in case the issue is discussed”, Petroleum Minister Usman Aminuddin told reporters here yesterday.

On whether Pakistan was interested to discuss the issue with India bilaterally, he said “it has to be decided by the President”.

However, he said Pakistan has offered guarantees through Iran on protection and safety issues of the pipeline, proposed to be laid via Pakistan.

Refuting reports that Reliance Petroleum of India was supplying diesel to Pakistan through indirect sources, Aminuddin said Islamabad had no plan to import the product from India.

He said Pakistan’s only source of diesel import was from Kuwait and a ship had been bought from Iran to step up the supplies.
PTI

Jerusalem, July 8
Another Palestinian child was added to the Middle East death tally, while the Palestinians warned of potential catastrophe if Israel does not act urgently to help bring an international peace plan to fruition.

An 11-year-old Palestinian was shot in the head yesterday by Israeli soldiers at Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on a day that saw the soldiers come under gunfire attack several times during the day. Three other Palestinian children were wounded during the incident, with the Israeli army saying 26 grenades and four petrol bombs had been thrown at its positions.

The child’s death brought the death toll to 639 — 501 Palestinians, 119 Israelis, 13 Arab Israelis and six Europeans.

Earlier, senior Palestinian official Abu Rudeina warned of a potential “explosion” in the region.

He accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of stalling the Mitchell peace plan and said delays were only fanning the flames of unrest as a US-sponsored ceasefire has failed to take hold on the ground.

The Palestinians say more than 30 persons have been killed in direct attacks which have been criticised by US and UN officials.
AFP

Jerusalem, July 8
Israel is keen on buying pilotless target aircraft (PTA) Lakshya from India and negotiations are on in this connection, defence sources have said. “While we intend to sell one weapon to India, we want to buy another from them. We have expressed keen interest and for sure want to buy Lakshya aircraft,” the sources said.

Stating that there are other defence equipment also that Israel would like to acquire from India, they said the issue had come up in various meetings between officials of the two countries in the recent past and Israel was favourably impressed after studying technical details and costs of the PTA.

“Negotiations are going on. One leads to another. We want to sell something and buy another thing. There is a connection between buying and selling,” the sources said, referring to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) produced Lakshya aircraft.

The Lakshya issue assumes importance in the backdrop of recent visits of Indian Defence Secretary and Naval chief to Israel and the meetings between defence
officials of the two countries during the recently concluded Paris Air Show.
PTI

Suva, July 8
When a preliminary inquiry into treason charges against coup leader George Speight and his accomplices starts here tomorrow, many in Fiji will be asking if they have the right man.

Senior army officer Viliame Seruvakula disclosed before taking up a job with the New Zealand army earlier this year that Speight was not the brains of the operation, only the front man.

The real masterminds behind the coup, which saw the country’s first ethnic Indian Prime Minister and his Cabinet held captive for 56 days, were a core group of seven politicians, ethnic Indian businessmen and senior army officers, Mr Seruvakula alleged.

He said it irked him to see these people “still walking free” while Speight and 12 others were detained at Nukulau island awaiting the start of their treason trial.

Fiji’s Sunday Post Editor Mesake Koroi also claimed that the seven conspirators met at a house in the Suva suburb of Laucala Beach Estate.

“The identity of the real plotters lie in the unveiling of those that met at a house at Laucala Beach Estate well before the coup.” He wrote.

Deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry insists that several prominent ethnic Indian businessmen financed the coup and should be brought to justice.

Both Mr Chaudhry and Mr Koroi allege that businessmen provided a constant supply of food to the rebels in parliament.

“All it needed was a letter from a member in parliament” and truckloads of goods would arrive at the complex where Speight and his men were holed up with their hostages, Mr Koroi said.

Mr Seruvakula had claimed in a recent interview that those who plotted the May 19 coup last year had owed “millions of dollars” to banks and in unpaid taxes.

“I think the inland revenue department is owed some $ 96 million in taxes and the Asset Management Bank (AMB) is owed $ 210 million. (The AMB was set up after the collapse of the National Bank of Fiji).

“That is a lot of money owed by a handful of people,” he said.

The army officer also revealed that he was offered tens of thousands of dollars to support the coup.

“They sent me a parcel which sat on my desk for two days before I opened it in front of two or three people. There was 260,000 Fiji (130,000 US) dollars cash in the parcel — in 50 dollar notes except for a bundle of 20 dollars.”

He also claimed that the Counter Revolutionary Army Unit soldiers who obeyed Speight’s orders were paid $ 50,000 each.
AFP

Lowell (Massachusetts), July 8
Much to the disappointment of her parents, seven-year-old Priyanka Deb is bypassing traditional Bengali fare, like samosas and chick peas. She’d rather eat pizza.

Her father, Babu Deb, is in charge of providing food for this year’s Banga Sammelan, a cultural conference designed to create community building opportunities for Bengali immigrants.

Each summer, the North American Bengali Conference attracts about 5,000 persons who come to enjoy traditional Bengali dance and vocal performances, Bengali food, and buy gold and silver trimmed saris.

One of the additional goals this year is to involve young Bengalis. Providing pizza for second-generation Bengalis is just one of the many changes at this year’s conference.

Over the years, participation by young people has been declining, said Abir Roy, president of Prebassi, a Massachusetts-based social club sponsoring this year’s conference.

“They (young people) would come but they would avoid the performances or just hang around the city,” said Roy, a Quincy accountant, and at 25, the youngest president of any Bengali organisation in the region.

Attracting more young people means adding non-traditional foods and opening up performance space to both English and Bengali singers and dancers.

This year’s talent show included a teenage band performing American music, and booths with henna tattoos and batik fabric making, two South Asian traditions popular with American youth.

The conference also featured the first Banga Sammelan Youth Summit, where teenagers and young professionals got together to discuss how to communicate with their immigrant parents and how to raise the visibility of the Bengali-American community.

“Are we Indians? Indian-Americans? Bengali-Americans?” Roy said. “We discussed what Bengalis have done in history, on the global stage and how we too need to continue to contribute.”
AP

Dhaka, July 8
At least seven people were killed and more than 100 others injured during a gunbattle between rival groups at Munshiganj, 30 km south of the capital Dhaka, Bangladesh police said on Sunday. Police said supporters of two local council leaders had clashed on Saturday.

Five people were killed on the spot and two seriously injured later died at a hospital. At least 15 of the wounded were policemen, the police said.

They said the situation was brought under control late on Saturday.
Reuters

WORLD BRIEFS

KENNEDY SCION IN JAIL
WASHINGTON: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sentenced to 30 days in jail for his role in protests against continued test bombings on a Puerto Rican Island, media reports said. Kennedy is the son of slain Democratic Party leader Robert F. Kennedy, who was shot in 1968, and the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy. He was found guilty of trespassing on Saturday, along with other demonstrators, on US military property on Vieques Island where US armed forces have been testing bombs and other munitions for 50 years.
DPA

RUSSIA FOR 5-NATION
TALKS ON N-ARMS
WASHINGTON: Russia has proposed multilateral talks among the five nuclear weapon powers with the aim of eliminating 10,000 warheads in the next seven years, newspaper reports said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested during private talks with visiting French President Jacques Chirac this week that Russia, the USA, France, Britain and China slash their collective nuclear warheads from 14,000 to 4,000 by the end of 2008, the Washington Post daily reported.
PTI

DEPRESSED MAN
KILLS 8
ISLAMABAD: A man depressed by poverty drugged eight members of his family, including five girls, and cut their throats with a knife in a Pakistani town, police and reports said on Sunday. “I am unable to feed my family and I have decided to save them from perpetual hunger,” 55-year-old Ghulam Mohammad, who disappeared after the murders wrote in a note left behind at his home in Gojar Khan, near here, the police said.
AFP

GADDAFI’S STEP-MOM HAS OPERATION
LONDON: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has sent his stepmother to Britain for a heart bypass operation, the Sunday Time reported. The Gaddafi family paid $ 16,740 for top British surgeon Danny Keenan to operate on Anisa Gaddafi at the Alexandra Private hospital in Cheadle, northern England, on Saturday.
Reuters

12 INJURED IN BOMB EXPLOSION
ZAMBOANGA CITY (PHILIPPINES): Twelve persons were injured when a homemade bomb exploded on Sunday on the roof of a lodging house in the southern Philippines, the military said. The blast shattered glass windows at the Constar Lodge in General Santos City, 1,080 km south of Manila, causing customers to panic, according to Colonel Danilo Servando. Police investigators said they have not ruled out the possible involvement of Muslim separatist rebels who forged a ceasefire agreement with the government last month.
DPA

WORKING POOR GETTING SICKER
SYDNEY: Rich Australians are living longer while the poor die younger, a survey published on Sunday revealed. Despite advances in modern medicine and the pride Australia takes in being an egalitarian country, health outcomes for the less well-off are worse than they were a quarter of a century ago. University of Canberra researcher Agnes Walker found the poor were now 49 per cent more likely to have a serious long-term illness than the rich. In 1975, the figure was 39 per cent.
DPA

‘INDIA CAN ACHIEVE MILITARY REVOLUTION’
WASHINGTON: India has the potential to achieve a revolution in military affairs if the private sector is allowed to contribute to the defence research and production, according to a report released by the CIA. Experts noted that India’s strategic community must balance several competing security interests, including concern over national unity and insurgencies, threats from Pakistan and China, and India’s aspirations for a global leadership role.
PTI

FIDEL, BROTHER MAKE JOINT APPEARANCE
HAVANA: Cuban President Fidel Castro and his brother and heir apparent, Raul, made an unusual joint public appearance on Saturday at an event organised to condemn US foreign
policy. Raul Castro, the second ranking official in the Communist Party hierarchy and defence minister, rarely appears together with the president for security reasons.
AFP

SHOW TO RAISE FUNDS FOR GUJARAT
SYDNEY: Aussies would be given a treat of Hindustani classical music with renowned Dhrupad singers, Gundecha brothers, performing in three Australian cities. Umakant, Ramakant and Akhilesh, who have won accolades from around the world, would be performing in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to raise funds to facilitate developmental works in Gujarat.
PTI